Air-ship.



INVENTOI? z/wzmw QBmne/z/ PATENTED AUG. 22, 1905.

W. G. BRANCH AIR SHIP APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8,1904.

ATTORNEYS 1 WITNESSES: V

terial, such as light sheet metal or silk.

TVILLMER OHAUNGEY BRANCH, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

AIR-SHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1905.

Application filed August 8, 1904 Serial No. 219,902.

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLMER OHAUNcnY BRANCH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Minneapolis, in the county of I-Iennepin andState of Minnesota, have invented a new and Improved Air-Ship, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates particularly to improvements in the balloon orbody portion of air-ships, the object being to provide an airship bodyportion so constructed that it will move through the air on apractically even keel or without undue rocking or tipping sidewise andthat should a leakage of gas occur will descend slowly, thus making theair-ship practically safe for passengers.

I will describe an air-ship embodying my invention and then point outthe novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of thisspeciiication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an air-ship embodying my invention. Fig.2 is a plan thereof. Fig. 3 is a rear end view. Fig. Ais a front endview, and Fig. 5 is a section on the line w c of Fig. 1.

The body of the air-ship comprises a bottom portion 1, consisting oflight metal--such, for instance, as aluminium and this metal is turneddownward at the center, as indicated at 2, to practically form a keel,and the upper portion of the bottom plate at the sides is curved outwardand downward, as indicated at 3, thus practically forming air-chamberssimilar to that of a parachute, which will oifer suflicient buoyancy tothe balloon or body should gas escape therefrom. The front end of thebottom portion is wedge-shaped or pointed, as indicated at A. Attachedto the edges of the bottom portion are semicircular ribs 5, to which thetop or covering 6 is attached and which may be of any suitable ma- Thistop portion at the front end is also carried to a point from the sidesand from the top, as indicated at 7. It is obvious that the top andbottom portions form the walls of a gas-container.

Arranged underneath the body is a cabin 8, in which is a suitable motor,from which a shaft 9 extends forward and a shaft 10 extends to the sternof the air-ship. Extended vertically through the forward portion of thebody is a shaft 11, to which is attached above the body a propeller 12.The .lower end of the shaft 11 has a bevel gear 13, meshing with abevel-gear 14 on the shaft 9. Extended upward through the stern portionof the body is a shaft 15, to which is attached a propeller 16, and onthe lower end of this shaft 15 is a bevel-gear 17, meshing with abevel-gear 18 on the shaft 10. These propellers 12 and 16 are designedto cause an upward or downward movement of the air-ship, depending uponthe directions upon which said propellers are rotated, it beingunderstood that suitable change-gearing will be provided to shift therotary motion 'while the motor is operating at all times in onedirection to cause the rotary movement of a propelling-wheel 19 on therear end of the shaft 10.

As a means for steering the ship through the air I attach a rudder 20 tothe forward end or bow, this being preferable to attaching the mainrudder to the stern, because it more quickly catches the action of theair. I may, however, employ at the stern an auxiliary rudder 21, which,as here shown, is mounted to swing on a frame 22, attached to the sternof the body. Any suitable means may be provided for operating theserudders in unison.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent-- 1. An air-ship, comprising an inflatable body,having a continuous elongated bottom formed with a pendentlongitudinally-extending keel merging into arched portions extendinglaterally of the upper part of the keel, for practically the full lengthof the latter.

2. An air-ship, comprising an inflatable body, having a continuouselongated bottom of light metal formed with a pendentlongitudinally-extending keel merging into arched portions extendinglaterally of the upper part of the keel for practically the full lengththereof.

3. An air-ship, comprising an inflatable body, tapered at its forwardend and having a continuous elongated bottom formed with a pendentlongitudinally-extending keel merging into arched portions extendinglaterally of the upper part of the keel for practically the full lengththereof.

' 4:. An air ship, comprising an inflatable body, having a skeletonsupporting-frame and provided with a continuous elongated bottom formedwith a pendent longitudinally-extending keel merging into archedportions extending laterally of the upper part of the keel forpractically the full length of the latter, and vertical shafts mountedin said frame both forwardly and rearwardly of the structure, andprovided with propellers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLMER CHAUNCEY BRANCH.

Witnesses:

RoB'r. W. CONNOLLY, D. L. PHILLIPS.

